Carmichaelia stevensonii

Detailed description

Leafless tree to 8-10 m tall with stout, sparingly branching trunk to 400 mm diameter and compact canopy of drooping, pendulous branchlets. Branches stout, initially erect soon drooping; grey-brown when mature, with relatively smooth bark and conspicuous raised rings at nodes; actively growing branches yellowish-grey to yellow-green with dark orange striae; bark chartaceous. Branchlets numerous, pendulous, striate, deeply grooved, subterete to 2 mm diameter yellowish-grey to grey-green. Stipules clasping shoot, 0.5 × 0.3 mm, elongate-triangular, pointed, tomentose on undersides, chartaceous, eventually fraying off with age. Leaves early deciduous, simple, emarginate, alternate, initially folded along midrib but gradually expanding and increasing in size to c.9 × 6 mm, sparsely hairy on upper surface, more densely so on undersides; petioles hairy, fleshy, ± cylindric, to 3 mm long. Leaves reduced to scales on mature shoots. Inflorescences in simple, lateral, pendulous compact, densely-flowered racemes up to 100 mm long; racemes solitary or in fascicles on peduncles arising directly from nodes on mature branchlets, mostly drooping. Occeasionaly erect or with the tips ascending. Flowers c.9 × 6 mm; pale lavender, with darker veins and markings. Peduncles pilose; pedicels c.0.5-0.9 mm long, pilose, arising in axils of peduncle scales. Rim and outer surface of calyx tube pilose. Petals whitish with intense lavender or violet markings towards base of standard and keel; veins of all petals dark lavender; standard orbicular, longer than wings, with margins reflexed; wings dolabriform, falcate, obtuse < keel, keel incurved, obtuse, ± the same length as the standard. Ovary sericeous; style long, slender, incurved, glabrate; stigma glabrous; ovules c.5. Pod turgid, rhomboid to suborbicular; immature pods grey-green, style often long-persistent, breaking off near its base leaving a stout, blunt, slightly upturned beak c.1 mm long; mature pod subcoriaceous, stramineous, densely hairy, obliquely obovate, 6 × 3-4 mm including beak; the withered calyx, corolla and stamens remaining long-attached to the pod base. Seeds reniform, oblong or triangular, 1-3 per pod, yellow-green, dark yellow, brown, orange, orange-brown or red-brown, spotted grey brown, red-brown or black, rarely unspotted, 1.7-2.0 mm.